“You are turning into your mother,” said my husband. Straight from his mouth to my ears. “Crap.” I thought. It’s the beginning of the end. But is it?
My mom and I have always had a good relationship, but like any mother/daughter duo we have had our fair share of knock down drag outs, too. I was the first-born and therefore the sacrificial lamb when is came to curfews, rules and parenting decisions. Don’t get me wrong, I had it pretty easy and was a good kid. But that didn’t stop me from knocking heads with my mother from time to time.
When I was younger, particularly in high school, I made it my mission to be my own person and form my own opinions and characteristics. Heaven forbid someone would think I was like my mother. I would catch myself saying something and sounding like her and vow to never do it again. But now, years later and one kiddo in, I think its safe to say…bring it on.
My mom is one of those women that continues to amaze me with how she manages to do it all. We all know those moms that work full time, parent full time, love full time and somehow manager to keep it altogether ALL the time…okay most of the time. She is that person. Let me explain.
My mother used to be a buyer for L.S. Ayres. Remember that store? She purchased juniors clothing and would fly to NYC for work just to pick out the latest trends. Then my sister and I happened. She attempted to continue her career, but the late nights and travel schedule were no match for a woman with two kids. So she gave it up…gave it up to be a mom. And, well she rocked that, too. Whether it was her career in merchandising or her life’s work as a mom, she always did it right and 100%.
Once my sister and I enrolled in elementary school, she started getting back into the professional world. It didn’t take long before she was working full time job in merchandising for Hasbro Toys. She was like Santa Claus; she even had assistants we would lovingly refer to as her elves. I can’t count how many times, she has helped located that elusive hot toy for a random mother on the hunt or taken it upon herself to buy toys for children that might not otherwise have them this Christmas. Even though she was working, she was always giving back.
While continuing to work full time, she never missed a sporting event, musical, Parent’s Weekend or just the random shopping trip with her daughters. She volunteers locally, is active in our church, continues to run the household and still kept my sister and I on the straight and narrow growing up.
Nowadays, she has finally retired and is working on that R & R thing. Following her stint as world’s best mother, she has quickly become the world’s best grandma, too. Making her a grandmother may be the best gift that I ever give her. And now that we share this bond of motherhood, I believe our relationship couldn’t be better.
I love my mom, I always have, but the fear of turning into her definitely gave me pause when I was younger. So many of us fight it, but after really examining things, I am beginning to like it. She is a superhero and who doesn’t want to be one of those? The situation I am describing is not unique to me either. Moms are killing it everyday. However, I think maybe we, as daughters, should take a moment to realize turning into our mothers isn’t so bad after all. I went from trying to prevent the transformation to thinking, my mother is a rockstar, why wouldn’t I want to be like my mom?
So, the next time my husband says, “you’re turning into your mother” maybe this time I needn’t think about my answer and instead just say it loud and clear: “You bet I am!”
